Christmas 2011

Wow, what a fantastic two weeks, Christmas with a 19 month old was amazing. C-bear was a little star throughout the whole period, we spent a week at each Grandparents' houses, here are some of the highlights:

Reuben the cat wouldn't get out of his box

 

Beautiful tree at Nana's

We went to a 'live' nativity, it included real-life Roman soldiers, a donkey, sheep and baby!

We LOVED opening our stockings

Made a biscuit Christmas tree (in this photo C is trying to steal the star from the top)

We dressed as an elf (but didn't really get giving out presents to other people)

We made best friends with Reuben the cat (who was surprisingly patient with C)

We got a smart new coat in the sales

We got a new car! It's being delivered in a couple of weeks! Goodbye 3 door Corsa and hello 7 seat Zafira. No more cramped car seat wrangling for us!

So much more, but that's it for now x

Little Reindeer

Playing with the reindeer antlers from Mama's Christmas party!

Bye Bye Little Boots

Can I write a whole post on a pair of welly boots? You bet I can!

C-bear has finally grown out of his first pair of wellies and it makes me feel so sad. These little size 4 boots are yet another item of clothing/pair of shoes that he'll never wear again. I bought them over a year ago, they're from Charlie & Lola and I had to get them for my Charlie as they had his name written all the way round the bottom. So they sat brand new and unworn for about a year, waiting patiently for their little owner's feet to be big enough to fit and then in what seems a blink of an eye he wore them, stomped in them, kicked leaves and jumped in puddles with them and now a short 3 months later they are too tight for his feet.

On Saturday we bought some size 5 froggy wellies which already he loves, has worn inside the house and can't wait to go stomping in the puddles with them.

I'm keeping the Charlie boots, washed and clean back in the drawer. I'm telling myself that's practical for a future brother or sister, but actually I just like to see them in the drawer and remember when his feet were small enough to fit.

Silent Sunday - 11th December

Tell Me About Yourself Award

I've been awarded! Thanks to Mummy Plum for passing this award onto me. The brief is to reveal seven things about yourself and then pass the baton on. I've also been following the trail of the award from blog to blog and I realise I've got a lot of good reveals to live up to. I don't think mine will be quite so revealing as some of them (!!!), but here goes:

1. I'm addicted to gingerbread lattes - I'm supposed to be on a diet, but have convinced myself that because they're only available for a limited time (well 2 months is pretty short...) I have to get one at least twice a week on my way to work. Plus I feel a really sap asking for a skinny decaf latte, so usually bottle out and go for the full fat 300 calorie deliciousness.

2. I love staying in and having the baby is the perfect excuse not to go anywhere. My perfect night is at home with my boys, baby in bed, pizza on way and red wine/beer in hand.

3. On that same theme, I often use C as a perfect excuse to get out of most things I'm not looking forward to, including hen parties, birthdays and all that jazz.

4. I'm HUGELY competitive, I get it from my Dad, but I'm that strange mix of polite English manners and intense, must win at all costs competitiveness. Don't mention Risk in our household, we almost split up over a game...

5. I get really annoyed with the other people using public transport. I can't stand bad manners, if the train is busy (which in London is pretty much every train) then how dare you sit in the aisle seat with your bag on the window seat and tut or roll eyes when I want to sit down. To be honest, if it's pretty busy, I will always get that person to move their bag rather then sit in an empty seat across the aisle. It's PUBLIC transport for and that means you need to share.

6. I'm a massive hot drinks connoisseur, in a similar vein to the GB Lattes, I must have a cup of tea/coffee/peppermint tea/licorice tea/rose tea/decaff coffee/hot chocolate ever hour at work. Luckily my team are similar and we take it in turn for tea runs, of all the teams in the office ours is the one permanently attached to the kettle.

7. I love being a Mum, it's no real secret, it's what my whole blog is about, but some how it feels so right. I didn't realise I was looking for it, but having C-bear meant I faced my 30th feeling like I'd achieved so much! Yes, I know it's biological to ensure human existence, but that warm fuzzy feeling I get when I'm with my little man is one of the best.

I'm passing this award onto Beth at MommaB&BabyBoy - who's recently announced the exciting news of a second baby on the way! I hope you get the time to write yours in between morning sickness - eek!

And here's the list of bloggers I've traced back who've had the Award before me and I'm including my favourite of their reveals:

Mummy Plum - 6. I'm a secret blogger. It's just me, my blog and you; my dear readers. I like it that way.
Trouble Doubled - 4) I like to make out like I'm highly cultured, yet I know exactly what is happening in Coronation Street and Emmerdale right now.
But Why Mummy, Why? - 3. When Butwhydaddywhy had finished putting up Noo’s amazing dolls house I actually did a little girl excited dance… And I may have played with it… Maybe..
Mum2BabyInsomniac - 1. Me and a few of my friends took off down to Newquay one Summer when I was a teenager, we hitched down there and camped on the edge of a cliff. We struggled to eat / drink as we didn’t have any money so we used to go and stand outside clubs and pull guys for a pound. Well I used to snog guys for a pound, my friend used to go and find the guys. I KNOW, I KNOW. You don’t need to say anything but we did used to make £50 a night so it was kind of worth it. Plus had I been in the clubs I probably would have been snogging them for free so at least this way showed business initiative.
motherventing - 1. I am wearing jeans that come up to HERE.
Cinderella Trippin' - 4. My kids have the most gorgeous hands. I can’t get enough of them.
Mama Finch - 5. I once got up at 2:30 AM to go with a friend to a local radio station in order to act like a giddy school girl and see JON BON JOVI! (repeat after me...I'm not a stalker, I'm not a stalker)
(NB. when someones been tagged by more than one blogger I've only followed the first blog mentioned, also at some point this award was meant to be passed to 15 other bloggers, but like Chinese whispers it seems to change each time)

What to do with an ill 19 month old

C-bear has a bad cold, a constantly running nose, hacking cough, on and off temperature etc. I've had the last two days off work to look after him and boy am I exhausted. I'd forgotten what it's like to have the boy on my own all day long, particularly as I've now caught the rotten cold from him! Anyway, here's our sick days in pictures.

We got out the Christmas books and introduced C to Santa Claus

we built towers with the jigsaw, C balanced the fire engine himself!

We painted

We wrapped up warm and had a short walk in the park

We put on Mama's slippers and ate an apple

We napped with most of our toys, 'rudo' and took off our socks before falling asleep

One quick moan, I hate our doctor's appointment system. You can only book same day appointments and have to call at 8am to book one. I phoned at 8am and didn't get through until 8.45am!!! By then all the appointments had gone, so I said what am I supposed to do, I have a sick 19 month old and they were proposing I call back at 8am on Monday (3 full days away) to try for another appointment! Only after I'd made a fuss did the receptionist offer to get a doctor to phone me at some point before midday, and when he did call a couple of hours later, he gave me an appointment at 5.20pm this evening. I also wanted to see the doctor as I'm also ill and my asthma is playing up, but I can't do that until Monday, this evening's appointment is just for the boy. :(

Time

If there's one thing I've learnt over the last 19 months about being a mother is that time just melts away. Where does it go? It seems to disappear completely, weeks, even months go by in fast forward and the little things I used to do without really thinking about it - emailing back a friend, cashing a cheque, writing a blog post - don't seem to get done at all.

In other news, last weekend we went down to Wiltshire to see Mum and Dad, C-bear had a lovely few hours with Granny and Grandad (he wowed all the old ladies at the village Christmas bazaar) whilst Mama and Papa Bear spent a fantastic time going to our wedding venue to discuss menu ideas with the head chef then going out to check out the wedding night hotel we've booked in Lacock. Lacock is a beeeaauutiful village about 20 mins from our wedding venue, the houses date from the 14th - 18th centuries and our hotel is a gorgeous 15th Century Inn. We didn't go inside (didn't want to spoil it) but we walked passed it and it looks every bit as good as when we first saw it online. Then because we had a florist's appointment at 3pm and we had lots of time to kill, we had lunch in the best country pub ever. There was two roaring fires, a Christmas tree, tapestries on the walls and really really good food. I was quite healthy with my choice of a smoked salmon sandwich and soup, but spoiled it by having a chocolate tarte and some of T's brownie for dessert.

This weekend we've seen C-bear's other grandparents, completed all our Christmas shopping (yay) and had a lovely Sunday lunch visiting friends who've just moved to Teddington. Little A was C-bear's first friend and it was lovely seeing our boys together, walking, interacting (by this I mean arguing over toys) and mimicking each other. We had yummy sausages from a local butcher and R gave me the name of someone who made her wedding dress, local to where we live and at a great price.

So all in all a great couple of weeks, but I wish I wasn't so behind on the little things, I wish rather then going to work tomorrow morning, I could spend the day catching up. I love having my boys with me at the weekend, but if there was a magic way to stretch time so I could have a little to myself as well as with my family, then I would be first in the queue to take it up.

And here's a bit of a photo dump from the last couple of weeks:

T having lunch in our lovely country pub

My soup and a sandwich

Plane!!! I can't stop giggling when I see this photo, he stood there for a good minute with his mouth open watching the plane fly over.

Tree! Our favourite tree in the park, C-bear loves to peekaboo round it whenever we go

Bye bye

A Night in at The Night Circus

I feel I'm a bit behind on blogging about books, but this one has been worth the wait!

In 1886 a mysterious travelling circus becomes an international sensation. Open only at night, constructed entirely in black and white, Le Cirque des Reves delights all who wander its circular paths. There are contortionists, performing cats, carousels and illusionists - but this is no conventional spectacle. Some tents contain clouds, some ice. And who is the sinister man in the grey suit who watches over it all? Behind the scenes a dangerous game is being played out by two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who, at the behest of their masters, are forced to test the very limits of the imagination - and of love...

The Night Circus is an enchanting, beautiful, magical story similar to The Time Traveler's Wife and Jonathan Strange. It's essentially a love story between Celia and Marco. They're trapped together in a dangerous, magical game, which becomes more intricate and beautiful as their relationship becomes more intense. As with all great novels it's the little details that really make the book, the twins, the amazing things in each circus room and the contortionist all help make this novel one of my favourites of the year.

Read it, enjoy it, love it.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas

Here in the London Mama household we've been getting lots of Christmassy things ready. Firstly, I was very excited to get my email from Snaffles Mummy giving me the details of who to send my tree decoration to for The Christmas Ornament Exchange (I blogged about this here).  Mine is going to someone over seas, which makes it much more exciting! It's against the rules to say what I've got just yet, in case my recipient happens to read... but here's a pic of it wrapped up and ready to go:

On Sunday C-bear and I created some homemade wrapping paper:

I got some Christmas sponges online, a roll of brown paper and some washable paint and we got creative. C-bear was mostly into painting himself, rubbing the paint in after we'd made the stamp, and putting the sponge near his mouth (then laughing when I told him not to!). He had a lovely fun time, got covered in paint and we have some wrapping paper the Grandparents will love this Christmas. I also made a batch of non-C-bear paper to wrap presents for friends with!! I finished it off with some glitter glue pens to create added details to a few of the stamps.

I also used my discount at work to get these beautiful clothbound classics. I've picked a particular story for each of the family and next weekend plan to paint Christmassy book plates to put inside. Don't you think these looks stunning together, I would love to have them all on my shelves!

Silent Sunday - 20th November 2011

Castles with 18 month olds

Yesterday we met up with our friends and their daughter little D. Little D is two months younger then Charlie, she's not yet walking but is very good at understanding and talking. We haven't seen them for ages as they moved to the country when little D was a few months old, so we planned a meet-up somewhere halfway between our homes and hit on Hever Castle.

We'd been to Hever once before but hadn't been inside, it has beautiful grounds and I remember T and I spent a lot of the time posing for photos by the topiary and looking at the lake.

This time, with a baby not yet walking and getting over a chest infection (Little D not C-bear) we definitely wanted to go inside. So that began our flash with-kids tour of the castle. It's Anne Boleyn's childhood home, but that's about all I still know about it. The babes were actually pretty good, but long gone are the days of spending time, reading the plaques under each exhibit and taking our time. We visited each room, briefly, Little D was whiny, C just wanted to run around. A lot of time was spent carrying C and then, when we were in a particularly empty room, letting him walk with his reins. He found it hard to understand the concept of not going under the red cord barriers, and was fascinated by the suits of armour.

We had more fun outside by the lake, C loved looking at the ducks (wanted to join them) and running around with Daddy. Little D had a crawl around and sat on a chair. Both kids liked our visit to the cafe which involved chocolate cake for all.

We'd also gone to a beautiful country pub for lunch beforehand. It was perfect, roaring fires, plenty of space, two highchairs and the food was good too.

It was a good day and lovely to spend it with another family who understood the ups and downs of having a small child.

This little guy put me in a Christmassy mood!

P.S. on the drive home Charlie was sick, very very sick. We stopped the car, wiped him down, wiped the seat down, changed his outfit, put him back in a sticky, wet seat and snuggled him up with a blanket. 10 mins down the road, he did it again. If you're a Mum you'll know there is nothing worse then being trapped in a car with a sicky child, just wanting to get home. We thought it was the chocolate cake, but after we'd got home, bath, stories, boy in bed, washing machine on, drier on, he was sick again. He managed to stay fast asleep so I cuddled him in our bed whilst Daddy bear changed the sheets and I managed put him back into bed again without him waking up. He had a temperature this morning, but has not been sick again.

P.P.S If you're a Mum you'll know there is no worse chore then cleaning sick from a car seat - how many crevices are in these things? It took me a good 45 minutes to properly clean all the straps and it still smells like sick and Milton spray.

Christmas comes but twice a year

Or it does when you do a mini Christmas card photo shoot in November!

Secret Christmas Ornament Exchange

I'm joining in with the Secret Christmas Ornament Exchange with Snaffles Mummy (thanks Accidently, Kle for highlighting it to me!!)

I love Christmas, and LOVE decorations, it's the little details of Christmas I love. All decorations have stories behind them, where I got them, why I got them, when I got them and joining in with the exchange will add another story to my collection. I love getting them out in December and decorating the flat, and I can't wait for C-bear to be big enough to help me!

Here's the rules:
1. There is a maximum spend limit of £5 (before postage).

2. It can be just one ornament or several if that’s what you want to do.

3. The ornaments can be bought, homemade, baked or a combination.

4. It is a ‘secret’ exchange so no reveal until you send your ornament. Please include your blog address and a card so that the recipient knows who as sent these lovely decorations to them. (To make it more fun don’t forget to gift wrap the ornament)

Time Scales:

•Deadline to register your interest with Snaffles Mummy is 18th November 2011 (see below for details on how to contact her).
•Details of your secret exchange will be sent to you by the 20th November 2011.
•Deadline to mail your ornament is 4th December 2011.
•Snaffles Mummy  will post a link after this date for us to all share our goodies.

How do you join?

Send me an email at snafflesmummy1@googlemail.com. She will need the following information in your email.

•Your name and address

•Your blog name and address and a twitter name if you have one

•Favourite colour/Or colour you decorate in

•Do you have a holiday theme? Or collect anything? (i.e. snowmen, Santa’s etc.)

•Are you happy to post over seas?
Good luck and if you get me, make it a nice one!!!! :)

Peepo FaceBook

What we did this weekend

We had a pretty busy time this weekend. On Fri night we drove down to Nana and Grandad's. Charlie finally learnt how to say 'Grandad' and repeated it throughout the weekend, both at Tom's parents and when talking to my Dad on Skype, I think he's just made two Grandad's love him even more!

On Saturday we went to Toys R Us to find Christmas presents. After doing a lot of research, I decided to go with Duplo, we don't want to start collecting too many different types of toy and Duplo won out. Mainly, it will last a few years and grow with him, it's comes in all shapes and sizes so everyone can buy him it fir Christmas and birthday whatever their budget, it's been around for ages so easy to get on Ebay or in Charity shops too. I also looked at Brio trains, but he already has the ELC garage with cars that do similar things and when he's bigger we'll look at getting a proper train set. Anyway I'm rambling. At TRU we got him a starter Duplo kit, it was on offer and a Duplo zoo set.

As I said in my earlier post, we spent the afternoon and evening with Lisa and a very tired boy went to bed after Guy Fawkes night excitement. His late night didn't stop him from waking up at 6.30am though!

Today I've been to the park three times. First with the boy to the play park, where he looked like a little womble, running around in his parka. Then when C napped I went for a run in the park - and saw all the spent firework casings from last night. After lunch and a Skype with Uncle Simon and Auntie Nicki all three of us went back to the park for a walk. A friendly black Labrador offered us his ball a few times and C loved me kicking the ball for him.

Bonfire Night Fireworks

Every year the park next to our flat has a huge fireworks display. We didn't go last year as the boy was too little but this year, with the lure of a special 'less bangs' children's show at 7pm, we decided to try it. Apart from on long car journeys home, we've never really kept Charlie up past his 7pm bedtime, so it was special for him to be up late.

My friend Lisa came over and we made mulled cider and had pizza and salad (the boy partook in the middle one, not the cider or the salad!). Then we headed to Crystal Palace Park and watched the bright lights of the fairground before the display.

C-bear was unsure. He went very quiet and as we waited for the 'works to start he clutched onto Mummy and Daddy's hands very tightly - he's not done that before. But he was snuggled up in his buggy with milk and a blanket and once the show started he seemed to quite enjoy it, though had big wide eyes throughout!

The sleepy boy then went home with Daddy whilst Mama and Lisa had a look round the fair. All in all a good evening but I can't wait for next year when he'll be more sure of himself and hopefully more excited.

Happy Halloween 2011

Baby at the Wedding Night

We've found the hotel we want to spend our wedding night in, it's a gorgeous Tudor building with a very enticing four poster bed!

Fingers crossed the suite we want is available for our wedding night.

BUT it's led me to the part of the wedding I need to get absolutely right and that's what to do with Charlie. I think I'll be going to the Net Mum's chat room for advice as I don't have any friends in this situation. What do you do with your 21 month old during your wedding day and night?

We've left him with grandparents a few times, but that would mean one of the Grandmothers missing out on the evening part of the wedding. There really isn't an option to have him with us at the hotel (is there??) but I don't want him to get upset because the whole day has been about Mama and Daddy and we've not been fully focused on him. My current thought is my Mum and I take an hour off from the wedding to drive the 12 miles to their house, put Charlie to bed, and then get a local friend to babysit, so we can both come back to the wedding. Is this feasible, can the bride leave her own wedding, or would it be better to man up and get someone else to take him?

So many questions and at the moment no real answers.

This time last year - Halloween 2010

Almost 6 months old

We've got an extra cute outfit for this year, I can't wait till the 31st!

Wedding rings

We bought our wedding rings last weekend, having the rings makes the wedding feel one step closer and suddenly much more real! So far we've booked the venue, sorted out the registrar, sent out the invites and set up the gift list, BUT knowing that tucked away is my beautiful ring makes it so much more exciting. I keep having to get it out to check it still fits and is still perfect (!) Tom's will be joining it in a few weeks as the jeweller had to order his size in.

We bought the rings in Canterbury, they're 18 Carat White Gold with bevelled edges, so it matches my engagement ring. They look a little like this:

I love that we bought my engagement ring in York and our wedding rings in Canterbury. I love supporting independent jewellers rather then big chains, and I love how having the ring makes me feel. Since I was a child I've always known that I'd get married and have a wedding ring. Then I'd assumed it would look exactly like my Mum's (plain gold band) but now that I know what my wedding ring looks like, it's one more part of my day dreamed life as a child that's been put into place. In the same way that wondering what colour hair and eyes your baby will have, or what job you'll do, it's one more step into life, and the love and security that one little band of gold can create is amazing.

Now to decide what to engrave on the inside...

My 17.5 month old - what you're doing

17 months is so fun, you learn something new every day. You're constantly chattering and copying whatever we say. Latest words include:

- Whale
- Tiger
- Sky
- Shapes
- Crocodile

You have a real opinion of your own, which means some tantrums, but you usually get over them quickly and are onto the next new, exciting thing. You run run run all the time, everywhere. You've starting running properly now, not just toddling but proper running around. You LOVE playing with Daddy, chasing, robots and rough and tumble are your favourites.

You're a size 4.5 shoe and we've got you some new blue diplodocus shoes from Clarks which you love. They go with your dino socks, cardi and dungarees.

You love traffic: cars, lorries, buses, vans, you point them all out on the road. Motorbikes are your favourite and you still love to see planes, you shout 'mlane' and point both arms to the sky, when the plane goes away you say 'bye bye'.

When we saw Nana last Friday, you ran to her shouting Nana Nana for the first time, she loved it.

You're fascinated by animals. Reuben the cat is 'Roo Roo' and you're best of friends, whenever we go to Nana and Grandad's you find Rueben's toys and throw balls, mice and fishing rods for him to play with.

Mama
xx